Two days into training camp, Billy Donovan is already making an impression in San Antonio - even before he’s met the press.
The Spurs’ new assistant coach has started working with players right away, and rookie Carter Bryant says he’s already had multiple conversations with the Hall of Famer. Bryant, entering his second professional season, said he’s been leaning on Donovan to learn more about the game and sharpen his own approach.
"I've had quite a few conversations with him since he's been here so far," Bryant said during training camp on Wednesday. "(I've been) talking to him, picking his brain about guys he's coached previously and what I need to do to just keep improving my game."
That kind of curiosity is exactly what Donovan was hoping to find when San Antonio reached out during the playoffs, with the team bracing for possible changes on Mitch Johnson’s staff. One of the biggest moves came when associate head coach Sean Sweeney left to become head coach of the Orlando Magic on June 1.
"San Antonio had called during the playoffs," Donovan told a TV reporter in late August while hosting a skills camp with his son, Bryan, in Gainesville, Fla. "There was some thought that they may lose some staff members, and I didn't really know what to think of it."
Donovan didn’t need much convincing once the opportunity was on the table.
"I'm just hoping that in some way I can help and bring value," Donovan said.
The new Spurs assistant arrives with a long résumé. Donovan, a 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, spent 11 seasons as an NBA head coach in Oklahoma City and Chicago. Before that, he coached Florida for 19 seasons and won six SEC championships along with national titles in 2006 and 2007.
He’ll also have family alongside him in San Antonio. Donovan’s son, Billy III, is joining the Spurs in player development, according to the team.
The move has already reconnected Donovan with Luke Kornet, who played under him for part of a season with the Bulls in 2020-21. Kornet said Donovan’s style should mesh well with what the Spurs already have going.
"Billy's great," Kornet said on Tuesday. "I was with him in Chicago for a year, so he's a great coach. I feel like he'll fit in super well with what the kind of culture and identity are here."
Kornet also pointed to Donovan’s directness and accountability as defining traits, the kind that matter for a team trying to keep building after its NBA Finals appearance.
"I always felt like, in my experience, he (was) straightforward and accountable" Kornet explained. "The goal was always to win, so everything was aligned to that. All the decisions came super naturally ... there wasn't really any second-guessing that."
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